Planning Trip - new goals - assessing failure

ashesfromfire
ashesfromfire Posts: 867 Member
edited January 5 in Motivation and Support
My boyfriend recently told me he's never had a real spring break (college style :drinker: ) so I told him I'd take him to the beach for a week. I booked the hotel and we'll be going at the end of march - that's less than 16 weeks away. I want to use this trip as motivation, to keep up my journey and be looking my best for the trip. My concern is it seems every time I make a time oriented goal I fail. I haven't learned how to assess "failure". Logically I know if my goal was to lose 10 pounds in a given month and I lose 6 I haven't actually failed - because I did lose weight and that's the point - but I didn't meet my goal!
So I'm looking at this 16 week - hoping I can lose 16 pounds (if not more!) and all worried I'll spend my whole trip upset if I only lose, lets say, 10 pounds. HOW DO YOU ASSESS YOUR WEIGHT LOSS "FAILURES"?

Replies

  • ashesfromfire
    ashesfromfire Posts: 867 Member
    come on guys!
  • Sarahneedstoshrink
    Sarahneedstoshrink Posts: 32
    Any weight loss is success to me! Even if I fall short of my goal I am always so thrilled and proud to see the scale go lower :happy: I am sure it can be hard to accept anything less than what you hope and plan for when you work so hard, But try to stay positive and celebrate every little pound! I know it is alot harder to loose the weight than it was to put it on! You are doing an amazing job and making great progress :drinker: Keep up the good work and enjoy whatever success it brings you!
  • transmute
    transmute Posts: 50 Member
    I think you might have the same problem I do-- I could climb 95% of the way up Mount Everest and feel like the world's hugest failure for not getting that last 5% up to the top. But yet, how many people even made it that far? It's the same with weightloss. I feel so discouraged thinking that I've got SO FAR TO GO and I'LL NEVER MAKE IT and WHY DON'T I JUST GIVE UP NOW... but that's because instead of looking at how far I've come, I'm looking at how far I've got to go.

    I'm looking at your ticker and seeing 41 pounds lost-- did you ever think you would get that far? You know you didn't lose that in one short snap, it was 41 little, single pounds when you were probably, at the time, hoping it was going to be two or three every time.

    It's definitely not news to you that any progress is far from a failure-- you said so yourself in your original post! I think it's just the difficult (and unexciting) matter of having to realign your thinking. Probably not what you wanted to hear, but you need to be your own cheerleader! Only ten pounds? TEN AMAZING POUNDS!
  • Joanitude
    Joanitude Posts: 171 Member
    I think what you are planning sounds like a great time...and a sweet gesture to your boyfriend.

    You asked
    HOW DO YOU ASSESS YOUR WEIGHT LOSS "FAILURES"?
    I don't do well with failure. I have a number of issues about it from my childhood, so I have learned how to restructure my thinking to allow for less than perfection - I redefine my goals. I take what i really want, redefine it to a realistic goal, then cut it down by X%...because I am competitive in nature, I will then try to double what my stated goal is just to see if I can do it. Ok, that sounds complicated, it's really not - If I hope to lose 16lbs in 16 weeks - I would set my goal at 8 pounds in 16 weeks, but work like mad to beat my goal. Anything over 8lbs I would consider a success, but I will likely get 14-16 pounds lost.

    But that's just me. I am sure others will have some far different ways of setting goals. It is all about learning what works for you.
  • Ellieus
    Ellieus Posts: 49 Member
    I never set a time goal. My body could react in a different way than it has the previous weeks and I probably would also be grumpy if I hadn't met it. But in the long run it so doesn't matter how long it took for you to loose the weight. As Sarah said above: Any weight loss is a success!
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